Device for converting flat pouch into tetrahedral pouch in rotary packaging machine

ABSTRACT

A device for converting a flat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch in a rotary packaging machine including: grippers having gripper jaws and gripper rollers; a rotary shaft; and a barrel cam combined with the rotary shaft and reciprocating for a duration as long as one process of the grippers, with a cam portion provided on an upper part of the barrel cam to control the space between the gripper jaws; the device including: an arm unit combined with the rotary shaft and performing repeated reciprocation for a duration as long as one process of the rotary packaging machine; a rotary unit mounted to the arm unit; and a pouch clamping unit combined with the rotary unit to be rotated by the rotary unit, the pouch clamping unit clamping opposite sides of the mouth of the pouch while opening the mouth of the pouch inside the pouch.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to a device for rotarypackaging machines, which is installed in a rotary packaging machinewithout changing the construction of the rotary packaging machine andcan convert a rectangular flat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch byprocessing the pouch such that the upper and lower sealed ends of thepouch cross each other almost perpendicularly.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a rotary packaging machine is a machine that producesproducts through various processes: a pouch opening process for openingthe mouth of a pouch while clamping the pouch using grippers; a fillingprocess for filling the interior of the pouch with a material; a sealingprocess for sealing the mouth of the pouch; and a cooling process forcooling the sealed mouth of the pouch.

In the related art, examples of conventional rotary packaging machinesmay be referred to Korean Patent No. 10-0940880 (Jan. 29, 2010) thatdiscloses a packaging machine having a fixed gripper and movablegrippers provided on opposite sides of the fixed gripper and functioningto process two supplied pouches simultaneously, and may be referred toKorean Patent No. 10-0465525 (Dec. 29, 2004) that discloses a packagingmachine configured to process pouches in such a way that one pouchclamped by a pair of movable grippers is moved through a plurality ofprocesses sequentially and is processed step by step.

The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of thebackground of the present invention, and is not intended to mean thatthe present invention falls within the purview of the related art thatis already known to those skilled in the art.

Documents of Related Art

(Patent Document 1) Korean Patent No. 10-0940880; and

(Patent Document 2) Korean Patent No. 10-0465525.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, the above-mentioned conventional rotary packaging machines areproblematic in that the machines cannot produce tetrahedral pouches inwhich the upper and lower sealed ends cross each other perpendicularlyunless the construction of some elements of the machines is partiallychanged and a device specified to form the tetrahedral pouches is usedin the machines.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind theabove problems occurring in the related art, and the present inventionis intended to propose a device for converting a flat pouch into atetrahedral pouch in a rotary packaging machine, which can be installedin a conventional rotary packaging machine without requiring a change inthe construction of the conventional rotary packaging machine and canfunction to open and rotate a pouch, thereby efficiently producingtetrahedral pouches and increasing the utility of the conventionalrotary packaging machines.

The present invention is also intended to propose a device forconverting a flat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch in a rotary packagingmachine, in which a pouch clamping unit is provided in a barrel cam of aconventional rotary packaging machine, so the device can continue thepouch releasing state of the grippers when the pouch is processed in anext process prior to rotating the pouch, thereby reducing the period ofprocessing time required in each process and increasing productivity.

Therefore, the present invention is advantageous in that the device forconverting a flat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch in a rotary packagingmachine can be mounted to an arm unit of a conventional rotary packagingmachine without requiring a change in the construction of theconventional rotary packaging machine and can function to open androtate a pouch, thereby efficiently producing tetrahedral pouches andrealizing improved economic efficiency and increasing the number ofkinds of products that can be produced using rotary packaging machines.

The present invention is also advantageous in that, when the upper partof a pouch is opened by a pouch opening unit, the movable blades and theactuating pins of the pouch clamping unit can clamp the upper part ofthe pouch, thereby efficiently clamping the pouch without losing thepouch, and efficiently opening opposite ends of the mouth of the pouchusing the movable blades of the pouch clamping unit after inserting themovable blades into the pouch, thus efficiently producing tetrahedralpouches without breaking the pouches.

A further advantage of the present invention resides in that a gripperopening unit is provided in the device so that gripper jaws can bemaintained in a pouch releasing state while the pouch clamping unitclamps the pouch, thereby avoiding interference that may be generated atthe time the pouch formed as a tetrahedral shape by the pouch clampingunit is fed to the grippers and efficiently clamping and rotating thepouch simultaneously, and reducing the period of work time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a pouch produced according tothe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating a device for converting a flat pouchinto a tetrahedral pouch in a rotary packaging machine according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the device of the present invention in astate before the device opens the mouth of a pouch;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the device of the present invention inwhich an arm unit has been moved to an upper position;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the operation of a vertical moving unit ofthe arm unit in the device of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating the operation of movable blades andactuating pins of a pouch clamping unit in the device of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinbelow, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a rotary packaging machine 1, in which adevice for converting a flat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch according toan embodiment of the present invention is used, includes: a pair ofgrippers 2 each having a pair of gripper jaws 2 a for clamping oppositesides of a pouch P when the pouch P is moved through a plurality ofprocesses, and gripper rollers 2 b for operating the gripper jaws 2 a soas to clamp or release the pouch P; a rotary shaft 3; and a barrel cam 4that is combined with the outer circumference of the rotary shaft 3 andis provided with a cam portion 4 a in the upper portion thereof, whereinthe barrel cam 4 is configured in such a way that, when the grippers 2of the rotary packaging machine 1 are rotated and it is required tocontrol the space between the grippers 2 within a predetermined section,the barrel cam 4 can reciprocate for a duration as long as one processof the rotary packaging machine so as to control the space between thegrippers 2.

Here, the rotary packaging machine 1 is provided with a vacuum padmounting unit to open the mouth of a supplied pouch P. Here, theconstruction and function of the vacuum pad mounting unit may bereferred to Korean Patent No. 10-1067454 (Sep. 19, 2011) owned by theapplicant of the present invention.

In the embodiment, although two grippers 2 are provided in the rotarypackaging machine 1 such that the grippers 2 form the pair of grippersand can clamp opposite sides of a pouch P as shown in the accompanyingdrawings, a dual type gripper unit that includes one fixed gripper andtwo movable grippers provided on opposite sides of the fixed gripper andcan process two pouches P simultaneously may be provided in the rotarypackaging machine 1 without being limited to the construction shown inthe drawings.

Here, the rotary shaft 3 of the rotary packaging machine 1 is configuredto be rotated at the same angle of rotation as that of the grippers 2when the grippers 2 are rotated for a duration as long as one process ofthe rotary packaging machine and to return to an original positionthereof when the grippers 2 are stopped.

Further, the rotary shaft 3 may be configured to be repeatedly rotatedat a predetermined angle of rotation and to be moved upward and downwardin the same manner as disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1345330 (Dec,19, 2013).

The device for converting a flat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch in therotary packaging machine 1 according to the present invention includes:an arm unit 10, a rotary unit 20 and a pouch clamping unit 30.

Here, the arm unit 10 is combined with the rotary shaft 3 of the rotarypackaging machine 1 such that, when the grippers 2 of the rotarypackaging machine 1 are moved from a process to another process, the armunit 10 is rotated at the same angle of rotation as that of the grippers2 and then returns to an original position thereof.

The arm unit 10 combined with the rotary shaft 3 of the rotary packagingmachine 1 includes: an arm 11 extending from the rotary shaft 3 in ahorizontal direction toward a position above the grippers 2; a sidelocking part 12 extending downward from the arm 11; and an upper lockingpart 14 mounted to the side locking part 12.

Further, a vertical moving unit 13 functioning to move the upper lockingpart 14 upward and downward may be provided at a position between theside locking part 12 and the upper locking part 14. In the presentinvention, the vertical moving unit 13 may be configured as varioustypes, for example, a step motor, a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinderactuator, etc.

The rotary unit 20 includes: an actuator 21 mounted to the upper lockingpart 14 of the arm unit 10 at an end thereof; and a rotary body 22rotated by the actuator 21 in such a way that the rotary unit 20 can berotated on the central axis of the rotary body 22.

The actuator 21 may be configured as a rotary actuator. The pouchclamping unit 30 is combined with the rotary body 22 of the rotary unit20 such that the pouch clamping unit 30 can be rotated in oppositedirections by a rotation of the rotary body 22.

The pouch clamping unit 30 includes: an actuator 31; a pair of movableblades 32 that can be moved in opposite directions by the operation ofthe actuator 31, thereby opening the mouth of a pouch P inside the pouchP that has been opened by a vacuum pad mounting unit (not shown) of therotary packaging machine 1; and clamps 33 that are provided on oppositesides of the actuator 31 and can clamp opposite sides of the pouch P.

Here, the movable blades 32 are configured to be moved in oppositedirections such that the blades 32 come together or are spaced apartfrom each other. Further, the actuator 31 that operates the movableblades 32 may be configured as various types, for example, a step motor,a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder actuator, etc.

Further, the clamps 33 are located at positions above the respectivemovable blades 32, with actuating pins 33 a provided to the respectiveclamps 33 such that the actuating pins 33 a can moved in directionstoward the respective movable blades 32. When opposite sides of a pouchP are placed between the actuating pins 33 a and the movable blades 32,the actuating pins 33 a are operated to clamp the pouch P.

In the present invention, the rotary packaging machine 1 may furtherinclude a gripper opening unit 40.

The gripper opening unit 40 includes: an operating member 41; and anactuator 42 actuating the operating member 41. Here, when the pouchclamping unit 30 that clamps the pouch P reciprocates by the operationof the arm unit 10, the operating member 41 pressurizes the gripperrollers 2 b so as to open the gripper jaws 2 a of the grippers 2 thathave clamped the pouch P.

The gripper opening unit 40 is combined with the barrel cam 4 of therotary packaging machine 1 and can reciprocate in the same manner asthat described for the arm unit 10. The actuator 42 of the gripperopening unit 40 is operated such that the gripper jaws 2 a of thegrippers 2 can be opened after the pouch clamping unit 30 clamps a pouchP and the open state of the gripper jaws 2 a can be maintained until thegrippers 2 are moved to a next process.

The operation and effects of the above-mentioned device for converting aflat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch in the rotary packaging machineaccording to the present invention will be described later herein.

The device of the present invention is installed in a conventionalrotary packaging machine 1 and converts a supplied flat pouch into atetrahedral pouch in which the upper and lower sealed ends cross eachother almost perpendicularly as shown in FIG. 1.

The device 50 for converting a flat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch in arotary packaging machine according to the present invention is installedin a conventional rotary packaging machine 1 at a location near thegrippers 2 that receive a pouch P and starts to operate after the pouchP is opened by the vacuum pad mounting unit (not shown) of the rotarypackaging machine 1.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 4, the arm unit 10 of the device 50according to the present invention is placed at a location where a pouchopening process of opening the pouch P using the vacuum pad mountingunit is performed.

At this time, the movable blades 32 of the pouch clamping unit 30combined with the arm unit 10 are maintained in a closed state in whichthe movable blades 32 are closed to each other.

When a pouch P is supplied to the grippers 2 and the vacuum pad mountingunit opens the mouth of the pouch P, the arm unit 10 is moved downwardso that both the rotary unit 20 and the pouch clamping unit 30 can bemoved downward as shown in FIG. 5.

Here, when the arm unit 10 is provided with the vertical moving unit 13,the arm unit 10 can move both the rotary unit 20 and the pouch clampingunit 30 downward while maintaining the downward moving stroke of theconventional arm unit 10 without changing the stroke.

The clamps 33 are provided with the actuating pins 33 a that can bemoved in directions toward the respective movable blades 32 as describedabove. When the pouch P is placed between the movable blades 32 and theactuating pins 33 a, the actuating pins 33 a are moved toward therespective movable blades 32, thereby clamping the upper part of thepouch P placed between the movable blades 32 and the clamps 33.

Thus, the movable blades 32 and the clamps 33 of the pouch clamping unit30 clamp a middle portion of the mouth of the pouch P, and the gripperopening unit 40 is operated to open the grippers 2, thereby releasingthe pouch P from the grippers 2. Thus, the pouch P can be prevented frombreakage during a rotation of the rotary unit 20 (see FIG. 6).

After the pouch P is clamped by both the movable blades 32 and theclamps 33 of the pouch clamping unit 30, the movable blades 32 areopened by the actuator 31, thereby opening the mouth of the pouch P.Here, the direction in which the mouth of the pouch P is opened almostperpendicularly crosses the direction in which the lower sealed end ofthe pouch P extends (see FIG. 7).

As described above, when a pouch P is supplied to the device of thepresent invention, the actuating pins 33 a of the clamps 33 are movedtoward the movable blades 32 until the actuating pins 33 a and themovable blades 32 clamp the pouch P. After clamping the pouch P usingthe actuating pins 33 a and the movable blades 32, the mouth of thepouch P is opened by the movable blades 32. Thus, the present inventioncan efficiently prevent breakage of the pouches P, thereby providinggood products and increasing productivity.

Here, the moving range of the movable blades 32 is determined such thatthe movable blades 32 can efficiently open the mouth of the pouch P in adirection almost perpendicularly crossing the extending direction of thelower sealed end of the pouch P without breaking the opposite sides ofthe pouch P. The above-mentioned operation of the movable blades 32 foropening the mouth of the pouch P is performed during a period ofprocessing the opening the pouch P by the pouch clamping unit 30 to atime when the pouch clamping unit 30 reaches a location at which a nextprocess is to be performed.

When the pouch clamping unit 30 clamping the pouch is moved to the nextprocess while opening the mouth of the pouch P, the grippers 2 of therotary packaging machine 1 are rotated to the location at which the nextprocess is performed. That is, the grippers 2 of the rotary packagingmachine 1 are rotated at an angle of rotation corresponding to themovement of the pouch clamping unit 30.

Here, the rotary body 22 of the rotary unit 20 combined with the armunit 10 is rotated when the arm unit 10 revolves. Described in detail,the opened direction of the mouth of the pouch P which is opened by themovable blades 32 of the pouch clamping unit 30 is perpendicular to anaxis extending between the pair of gripper jaws 2 a, so the rotary body22 of the rotary unit 20 is rotated at an angle of 90 degree when thearm unit 10 revolves. Due to the rotation of the rotary body 20, theopened mouth of the pouch which is opened by the movable blades 32becomes parallel to the axis extending between the gripper jaws 2 a, sothe pouch can be clamped by the grippers 2.

Thereafter, the arm unit 10 returns to an original position thereof atwhich the vacuum pad mounting unit is provided, and repeats theabove-mentioned process.

The present invention may further include the gripper opening unit 40.

The gripper opening unit 40 is combined with the barrel cam 4 of therotary packaging machine 1 and is moved for a duration as long as oneprocess of the grippers 2 in the same manner as that described for thearm unit 10.

In the gripper opening unit 40, the operating member 41 is moved forwardby the actuator 42 and comes into contact with the gripper rollers 2 bof the grippers 2 of the rotary packaging machine 1, and operates thegripper jaws 2 a so as to release the pouch from the gripper jaws 2 a.When the grippers 2 are moved to a position of a next process, theoperating member 41 of the gripper opening unit 40 is also moved to theposition along with the grippers 2 while maintaining the state of thepouch released from the grippers 2. When the gripper opening unit 40reaches the position of the next process, the operating member 41 andthe actuator 42 are operated such that they do not come into contactwith the gripper rollers 2 b, thereby allowing the grippers 2 to clampthe pouch P. The gripper opening unit 40 can reduce the processing timeof the present invention.

When the present invention does not use the gripper opening unit 40, itis required to add a structure for allowing the grippers 2 to clamp orrelease the pouch in each of positions of two processes in which thepouch clamping unit 30 is placed.

When adding the structure for allowing the grippers 2 to clamp orrelease the pouch in each of the positions of the two processes, thework time is increased due to an increase in the processing timerequired to clamp or release the pouch using the grippers 2. Especially,in the present invention, the rotary packaging machine 1 performs aplurality of processes while maintaining a constant processing time ineach process, so the addition of the structure for allowing the grippers2 to clamp or release the pouch in each of the positions of the twoprocesses increases the work time and reduces productivity.

To solve the problems, the present invention provides the gripperopening unit 40 on the outer circumference of the barrel cam 4, so, whenthe pouch clamping unit 30 clamps a pouch P, the gripper opening unit 40releases the pouch from the grippers 2 and maintains the state of thepouch released from the grippers 2 until the pouch reaches a position inwhich a next process is performed. When the pouch P is released from thepouch clamping unit 30 at the position of the next process, the actuator42 of the gripper opening unit 40 is operated to make the grippers 2clamp the pouch P. Further, the actuator 42 of the gripper opening unit40 can be operated to return the gripper opening unit 40 to an originalposition thereof, thereby efficiently reducing the processing time.

As described above, the device of the present invention may beefficiently used by simply adding the device in a conventional rotarypackaging machine 1 without changing the construction of the rotarypackaging machine, so the present invention is advantageous in that itdoes not increase the production cost of the rotary packaging machine.Further, another advantage of the present invention resides in that thedevice can prevent a breakage of a pouch P due to the operation of themovable blades 32 and the clamps 33 of the pouch clamping unit 30, andcan easily and efficiently change the orientation of the pouch P,thereby efficiently converting a flat pouch into a tetrahedral pouch inwhich the upper and lower sealed ends cross each other almostperpendicularly.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for converting a flat pouch into atetrahedral pouch in a rotary packaging machine, the rotary packagingmachine comprising: grippers (2) each having gripper jaws (2 a) forclamping a pouch (P) and gripper rollers (2 b) for actuating the gripperjaws (2 a); a rotary shaft (3); and a barrel cam (4) combined with therotary shaft (3) such that the barrel cam can reciprocate for a durationas long as one process of the grippers, the barrel cam (4) provided witha cam portion (4 a) on an upper part thereof to control a space betweenthe gripper jaws (2 a); the device comprising: an arm unit (10) combinedwith the rotary shaft (3) of the rotary packaging machine (1) andperforming repeated reciprocation for a duration as long as one processof the rotary packaging machine (1); a rotary unit (20) mounted to thearm unit (10); and a pouch clamping unit (30) combined with the rotaryunit (20) such that the pouch clamping unit can be rotated by the rotaryunit, the pouch clamping unit clamping opposite sides of a mouth of thepouch (P) supplied thereto while opening the mouth of the pouch (P)inside the pouch (P).
 2. The device for converting the flat pouch intothe tetrahedral pouch in the rotary packaging machine of claim 1,wherein the arm unit (10) includes: an arm (11) combined with the rotaryshaft (3) of the rotary packaging machine (1); a side locking part (12)combined with the arm (11); and an upper locking part (14) combined withboth the side locking part (12) and the rotary unit (20).
 3. The devicefor converting the flat pouch into the tetrahedral pouch in the rotarypackaging machine of claim 2, wherein the arm unit (10) furtherincludes: a vertical moving unit (13) combined with the side lockingpart (12), the vertical moving unit vertically moving upward anddownward the upper locking part (14) combined with the rotary unit (20).4. The device for converting the flat pouch into the tetrahedral pouchin the rotary packaging machine of claim 1, wherein the pouch clampingunit (30) includes: an actuator (31) combined with the rotary unit (20)such that the actuator can be rotated by the rotary unit (20); and apair of movable blades (32) moved to left and right by the actuator (31)such that the blades (32) open the mouth of the pouch (P) inside thepouch (P).
 5. The device for converting the flat pouch into thetetrahedral pouch in the rotary packaging machine of claim 1, whereinthe barrel cam (4) of the rotary packaging machine (1) further includes:a gripper opening unit (40) including: an operating member (41) forpressurizing and releasing the gripper rollers (2 b) of the grippers(2); and an actuator (42) for actuating the operating member (41). 6.The device for converting the flat pouch into the tetrahedral pouch inthe rotary packaging machine of claim 5, wherein the actuator (42) ofthe gripper opening unit (40) is operated to be moved while continuouslypressurizing the gripper rollers (2 b) of the grippers (2) of the rotarypackaging machine (1) until the gripper opening unit (40) reaches a nextprocess.